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Protests by supporters of the outgoing US President Donald Trump escalate in Washington.
While Congress was preparing to formally confirm Joe Biden's election victory on Wednesday, angry Trump supporters flocked to the grounds of the House of Parliament.
Some also got inside the building.
The meeting was suspended.
According to the White House, the National Guard will be deployed in Washington.
"On the instructions of President Donald Trump, the National Guard is on the move with other federal security services," wrote Trump spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany on Twitter.
Protesters also broke into the Senate Chamber of the Parliament building.
The TV channels C-Span and NBC showed pictures of protesters walking around the room or sitting on chairs.
US MPs accused Trump supporters of a "coup attempt".
“This is anarchy.
This is an attempted coup, ”said MP Seth Moulton.
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A session of Congress had recently taken place in the building to confirm the results of the presidential election and thus the victory of Democrat Joe Biden.
Police ordered the evacuation of several Congress office buildings.
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According to the AP news agency, a person was shot amid the protests at the Capitol.
Under what circumstances the woman was shot and in what condition she is unclear, AP reported on Wednesday.
CNN news channel reported that a woman was being treated for gunshot wounds in the chest.
NBC News reported that a person was shot by security forces.
"Stay peaceful!" Tweeted Trump
Before his supporters stormed the Capitol, Trump spoke again of alleged electoral fraud and declared that he would never acknowledge his defeat.
After his supporters invaded the Capitol, Trump called on them to remain peaceful in their protest.
"Stay peaceful!" He wrote on Twitter on Wednesday and urged the demonstrators to support the police and security forces who were "on the side of our country".
Police managed to overwhelm protesters in the Capitol
Source: Getty Images / Drew Angerer
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The US police drew firearms to protect MPs.
"The security guards of the House of Representatives and the Capitol police have drawn their guns while demonstrators are beating on the front door of the House of Representatives," said MP Dan Kildee on the online service Twitter.
"We have been instructed to lie down on the floor and put on our gas masks."
Several former companions urged Trump to be clearer and clearly condemn the demonstrators' action.
"You are the only one you will listen to," said Trump's former communications chief Alyssa Farah.
"Judge this now."
Trump's former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney wrote, “The president's tweet is not enough.
He can stop that now and must do just that.
Tell these people to go home. "
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US Vice President Mike Pence condemned the events.
"Peaceful protest is the right of every American, but this attack on our Capitol will not be tolerated and those involved will be held accountable with all the harshness of the law," Pence tweeted Wednesday.
Trump does not instruct his supporters to end protest
In another tweet, Trump renewed his appeal.
“No violence!
Remember, WE are the party of law and order - respect the law and our great men and women in uniform.
Thanks!"
Trump did not instruct his supporters to end the protest he had called on them to end.
Trump had asked his supporters to protest against the confirmation of the election result by Congress, whereupon the protesters marched towards the Capitol.
Donald Trump supporters invaded the Capitol
Source: AFP / SAUL LOEB
Smoke spread in a Capitol corridor with Trump supporters
Source: AFP / SAUL LOEB
Vice President Mike Pence has been moved to a safe place, according to NBC.
Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris was also brought to safety, according to an employee.
The place is kept secret.
US Congressmen were taken out of the building.
Majority Republican leader Mitch McConnell and other politicians were escorted out by staff and police.
Members of the House of Representatives also left the building.
Because tear gas was used in the Capitol rotunda, police asked MPs to put on gas masks.
Republican MP Nancy Mace reported on Twitter that she had been forced to leave her office because of an "imminent threat".
Demonstrators attacked the Capitol Police in front of their eyes.
“This is wrong.
We are not like that.
I am deeply sorry for our nation today, ”Mace wrote.
A protester waves a Trump flag in the Capitol
Source: AFP / WIN MCNAMEE
Source: AFP / SAUL LOEB
Before the results of the US presidential election were confirmed in Congress, there had been scuffles in front of the Capitol between supporters of the elected president and security guards.
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Several TV channels showed how hundreds of supporters of the US president marched towards the seat of parliament after a speech by Trump, some of them engaged in fights with emergency services.
The emergency services fired pepper spray.
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Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered a curfew over the protests.
It will come into force on Wednesday at 6 p.m. (local time / midnight CET) and end on Thursday morning at 6 a.m. (12 noon CET), Bowser announced.
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The electors in mid-December confirmed the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the US election on November 3rd.
On Wednesday, the members of the House of Representatives and Senate met in a joint meeting to again confirm the vote of the electorate.
Republicans delayed Biden's confirmation as US president
Republicans appealed against the result from the state of Arizona at the meeting.
A Republican MP from the House of Representatives raised the objection.
He received support from Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
The objection forced the two chambers of congress to withdraw to separate sessions in order to debate the objections for up to two hours and to vote at the end whether they should follow them or not.
Biden won the state of Arizona in the presidential election in early November by almost 10,500 votes.
The defeated Republican incumbent Donald Trump sued there, as in several other states, against the results - albeit unsuccessfully.
Confirmation of the presidential election in Congress is usually a formality in the US post-election procedure.
However, various Republicans from both chambers of congress had already announced in advance that they would object to the results from several US states - driven by unsubstantiated claims of trump fraud.
Several separate sessions of the Congress Chambers were expected in the course of the day, which is likely to delay the processes considerably.
The disruptive action has no prospect of success.
Both chambers of congress would have to agree to an objection, which is considered impossible in view of the majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives.
Trump lost the election to Biden by a clear margin at the beginning of November.
But he refuses to admit defeat.
Trump claims he was robbed of victory by massive fraud.
Neither he nor his lawyers provided any convincing evidence.
Dozens of lawsuits from the Trump camp have so far been thrown out of courts, including the US Supreme Court.